


Blind Dates and Butterflies

by Chitousi



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: ASS Friendship Dynamics, Blind Date, F/M, Fluff, Mentions of Anxiety, Pre-Relationship, Ridiculous Nicknames by Abigail and Sam, Shenanigans at the Saloon, They just want Sebastian to find love okay, Zuzu City
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24351958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chitousi/pseuds/Chitousi
Summary: Abigail sets the local edgelord up on a blind date in Zuzu City. It goes as well as Sebastian expects (a.k.a. horribly), but officially meeting the new farmer was not on his agenda for tonight.
Relationships: Sebastian/Female Player (Stardew Valley), Sebastian/Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 68





	Blind Dates and Butterflies

To the normal, untrained eye, Sebastian is a man who lived and breathed in whatever way he felt like. He slept and woke up and left his room, _if_ _he_ _did_ , with no inclination for what was socially acceptable. He spoke and listened and sized up whoever was dumb enough to think they could break and peer into the cogs and wheels of his mind, not caring for things such as niceties and manners. Heck, there are days when he would just hop on his motorcycle and disappear for days with no explanation of where and when. One of these days, he’d probably leave and never come back without a word to his friends and family.

Well, Sebastian _is_ all these, but he is also a man who follows his self-established routines religiously, and really, _really_ doesn’t appreciate them being disrupted.

Which Abigail is doing right now.

“ _No_.”

“Oh, come on, Seb! Live a little!” Abigail rolled her eyes and looked at the other boy at the table for help, “Sam, tell Sebby here that this blind date is what he needs to spruce up his _sorry_ _ass_ of a life right now.”

Sam immediately perked up at the words ‘ _Sebby_ ’ and ‘ _date_ ’, abandoning the current game of Junimo Kart he was playing on his phone. “Ooooh, _blind_ _date_ , huh? Who’s the unlucky gal?”

Abigail sighed and began talking about her online classmate from Zuzu City _again_ — something about finding Sebastian through Abigail’s FaceSpace and asking about him every chance possible— much to the growing amusement of the blond man. Sebastian sighed and took another sip at the glass of beer he was nursing for the past hour, surveying the rest of the place. The Stardrop Saloon usually gets lively on Friday evenings, but so far, the other people with them right now are Gus and Emily, who were getting ready for the busy night ahead of them. Gus owned and ran the Stardrop Saloon for as long as Sebastian remembered, while Emily started waitressing since she and her sister moved back to Pelican Town a few years back. It was only a little way past five o’ clock, so they still had time before the rest of the town arrives.

“Earth to Sebastian,” he brought his attention back to his two friends at the mention of his name, “were you even listening?”

“Obviously not.”

“Why am I even friends with you again?” Abigail sighed in exasperation. She loved Sebastian to bits, but he was so _difficult_ to deal with sometimes. “Just give her a try. For me. I don’t want to hear another word about how edgy and brooding you look like.”

“ _Or_ you could just tell her I’m not interested,” he quipped back, the corners of his mouth barely curling upwards at the expense of his friend.

“Sebby, my brooding emo compadre, I don’t get why you’re so against this,” Sam flung an arm around his shoulders and took a chug of his now-watered down Joja Cola, “She’s single, you’re single— unless you’re actually hiding a chick from us, which is so _not_ cool— and it all works out! Worst case scenario: she’s a total tool and you guys don’t spark joy and we can all move on from this hot mess.”

Sebastian sighed in defeat. There was no way he could talk himself out of this if both his friends were hyped about a _thing_ , which currently happened to be his non-existent love life. He knew his friends knew this, too, based on their poorly-contained excitement— Abigail hid behind her bright purple hair in an attempt to muffle a fit of giggles while Sam seemed to almost vibrate out of his seat.

“Fine, but only _one_ date, and she gets to do all the planning since she’s the one living in Zuzu City.” Sebastian took another sip of his beer— he’s probably gonna need a refill— and surrendered his phone so Abigail could type in the poor girl’s contact details. Abigail and Sam then started discussing things like _flowers_ and _centerpieces_ like two schoolgirls gushing over first crushes. Unbelievable. Maybe he could convince Gus or Emily to give him an entire keg, but they’re probably gonna need it on a busy Friday night.

————————

The restaurant Janice picked out was a seemingly authentic Japanese place located a few streets away from the epicenter of the Zuzu City night life. This was probably Abigail’s idea because no sane person would take their date out to a somewhat secluded place where they could get food poisoning and die. _What_ _a_ _great_ _way_ _to_ _end_ _a_ _date_ , he chuckled to himself. Still, no matter how the date goes, he’ll probably come back here if the food is as great as the reviews say.

He looked around the restaurant for any sign of Janice before glancing at his phone again. There’s still half an hour before their meeting time, but the anxiety and waiting was making him squirm in his seat. He double-checked the date, time and place, making sure he got all of it right.

What if the date was actually tomorrow instead of today? Sam wouldn’t have made a big deal of coming over to his place this afternoon, then.

What if he got the place wrong? Abigail sent him the directions, which checked out with the directions Janice sent him.

What if Janice already saw him and decided he wasn’t worth her time already? What if something happened to her on the way here? Maybe he should’ve offered to pick her up. What if—

“Sebastian?”

He looked up to whoever called him and saw a woman who was definitely _not_ Janice. Those familiar hazel eyes bore through him as if seeing through the calm façade he was putting up. Looking at the rest of her, he noticed that she skipped her usual gray shirt and faded overalls combo for a crisp white blouse and a mid-length navy blue skirt. _Cute_. It took him a while to realize that right in front of him was the new farmer that moved in a few months ago.

“Uhh... Katie, right?”

“Didn’t expect to see you here, of all places,” Katie huffed a small chuckle under her breath, “I barely even see you when I visit your own house.”

Sebastian’s face grew hot at the innocent comment— he was flushed from the neck up, looked like one of the ripe tomatoes she was growing on the farm. Katie took a good look at him: his usual black hoodie was replaced by a gray turtleneck sweater, with his leather jacket hanging off on the chair beside him. He was already cute before, but Katie found him even cuter now. Why would he dress up—

“Are you on a _date_ right now?!” Katie covered her mouth on instinct, but the words were already out in the air. She felt a few eyes from the nearby tables looking at her, and _Oh_ _Yoba,_ _please_ _let_ _the_ _floor_ _swallow_ _me_ _up_ _now_.

Before Sebastian could get another word out— his mind was still recovering from Katie’s previous comment, and there was just _so_ _much_ he could handle— he saw another man in a business suit come up to them and tap Katie’s shoulder. She looked at him and immediately beamed.

“Oh, I guess our table’s been set up already. Good luck on your date!” She waved her hand, and went off her merry way. He waved back halfheartedly, a ghost of a smile on his face hoping to hide the sudden sinking feeling in his gut. Of course a cute farmer girl like her would be dating someone, but this wasn’t the time or place to think of that. Right on cue, a woman who fits Abigail’s description of Janice approached him. This wasn’t the time to think about the cute farmer girl, he reminds himself, because he had his own date to mess up.

————————

Katie shrugged on her coat as she walked out the restaurant. As much as she wanted to stay and have a few drinks at the bar next door, she still had an early day ahead of her tomorrow. Eating out like this was one of the few things she missed about the city, but tending to her grandfather’s old farm felt more of a natural development in her life the more she stayed in the small town. She hummed a little tune under her breath as she planned for her day tomorrow— none of her crops are for harvesting yet, but hopefully the next harvest would profit her enough to finally have Robin build that coop she wanted. _Maybe_ _I’ll_ _get_ _to_ _see_ _him_ _then_ , she smiled to herself. She settled for a well-lit part of the street to wait for a cab, looking around once in a while for any cab driving nearby. Hopefully, the bus station was still open at this hour, or else going home would be a pain.

“Your boyfriend’s not gonna drive you home? It’s a little late for a commute.”

She spun around to see Sebastian, looking both at home and out of place in Zuzu City. The whole ‘bad boy with a cigarette and a leather jacket’ vibe was definitely a thing for a big city rather than their small town, but an untrained eye would miss the way his dark eyes dart at whatever movement he noticed in the dark.

“Oh, I usually commute back to Pelican Town at this hour. Just making the most of the trip, y’know?” She smiled at him, showing how she’s still much of a city girl who can survive commuting late at night, until the rest of what he said crept back to her. “Wait, what boyfriend?”

“The guy you were with—“

Sebastian was cut off by a sudden burst of laughter. There was Katie, hunched over with hands on her midsection, pink in the face and shoulders shaking, tears quickly forming at the corner of her eyes.

“Oh Yoba, _no_! That was my brother, Chris,” she managed to explain in between gasps of air, “We used to have weekly family dinners together until I moved to Pelican Town.”

On one hand, Sebastian wanted to disappear because of such a gross error in judgement, but on the other hand, a whole unknown weight was lifted off his chest at this nugget of information. _Maybe Katie isn’t actually dating anyone?_

“Well, I’m on my way home, too,” he started, tugging his ear unconsciously, “I could drop you off if you want?”

She gasped and nodded enthusiastically, walking in line with him as they approached the restaurant’s parking area. “You have a car?”

“Motorcycle actually, but it beats riding the bus,” He tossed the spare helmet he keeps at his bike’s compartment at her before wearing his own. “Well, shall we?”

It was a good thing the parking area isn’t as lit as other areas, because she knew she was blushing, if the sudden heat on her face was anything to go by. She fastened the helmet on her and sat behind him. _What a nerd_.

————————

“ _So_ , how was your date, loverboy?”

Sebastian looked up from his phone to see Sam and Abigail walk up to him at their usual table with matching cheshire grins. How long were they gonna prolong his misery like this?

“Nothing interesting to report,” he shrugged, “Told her I wasn’t interested before she got the wrong idea.”

“Was that before or after your dinner?” Sam snickered at his own question, earning a huff of laughter from Sebastian and a drawn-out groan from Abigail. As much as he enjoyed joking at his friend’s expense, he wasn’t _that_ much of an asshole. Well, maybe a little more egging won’t hurt.

“Don’t worry, I paid for our bill as compensation.” This earned another round of snickering from Sam and Abigail muttering apologies for her friend under her breath. “Really though, no more blind dates.”

“But _Sebby-_ _boo_ ,” Sam was at it again with the dramatics, holding him by the shoulders and hopefully shaking him out of his decision, “how are we gonna find your One. True. Love?”

Before Sebastian could answer back and fully disapprove the ridiculous nickname, he saw the ~~new~~ ~~farmer~~ Katie walk in the Saloon, greeting Gus and Emily with a basket of fresh produce from her farm. She was back to her regular shirt and overalls, though one of the buttons came loose— probably from her carrying that basket around. Based on the big smile on her face and how animated her movements were while talking, the recent harvest went to her favor and she had more than enough to gift some of her hard work. Gus soon left the counter to prepare her order while Emily took the basket out to the pantry, leaving Katie free to look around, soon surprised to see his eyes on her.

She smiled at him and waved, much like that evening at Zuzu City, and he couldn’t help but wave back at her.

Which did _not_ go unnoticed by his friends.

The sudden cough brought his attention back to the table, and he knew he was done for, if he was reading his friends’ faces right. Which he always does.

“Please don’t make a big deal out of this,” he sighed in defeat before any of them could speak.

“Nope,” they said in unison, “You’re gonna tell us everything we need to know.”

 _Oh_ _Yoba_ , Sebastian had a long night ahead of him.


End file.
